Can I drink alcohol with Fluorouracil (5-FU) and Leucovorin?

CessnaFlyer
CessnaFlyer Member Posts: 110
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I enjoy one or two glasses of wine in the evening and perhaps a martini once a week in the afternoon. I’ll be starting Fluorouracil (5-FU) and Leucovorin this Thursday and will have the injections once a week for six weeks and then I will have two weeks off. Should I totally give up alcohol during the entire treatment period, or just the day I receive treatment?

Comments

  • grammadebbie
    grammadebbie Member Posts: 464
    #2
    ???????
    Hi Cessna Flyer,

    Welcome to this forum. It's a great source of encouragement and information. I'm sorry that I don't have an answer for you. I'm sure someone knows and will reply. Everyone is different though so be sure and check with you doctor. Let us know how you're doing and if you have any questions.

    Blessings to you,

    Debbie (gramma) there is another Debbie here so I added gramma
  • kersha
    kersha Member Posts: 63
    #3
    drinking with chemo
    Hi my husband was told by two onc. at different hospitals that he can have a drink on occasions but they did not mention if he can have it on the days of the chemo. However, although he was a beer drinker he has quit since diagnosed 15 months ago.
  • shrevebud
    shrevebud Member Posts: 105
    #4
    Treatment and Drinking
    Hi Cessna:

    I too like wine and drank a little every now and then while I was on chemotherapy. Sometimes I drank a few glasses. I didn't drink anything stronger than that. I have liver involvement so I think about those effects more than drinking during treatment. Right now I'm off treatment and don't have any desire to drink anything. Chemotherapy is known for making people unusually tired and sometimes interfering with thought processes - the alcohol might add to those effects. Nausea might be another concern. If you keep it in moderation you're probably fine. Your onc. might advise against it though. Everyone's different. If you feel good and want some wine, I'd say have some. Take care. Roy
  • hoagiemom
    hoagiemom Member Posts: 87 Member
    #5
    kersha said:

    drinking with chemo
    Hi my husband was told by two onc. at different hospitals that he can have a drink on occasions but they did not mention if he can have it on the days of the chemo. However, although he was a beer drinker he has quit since diagnosed 15 months ago.

    drinking with chemo
    When I first started chemo I asked my onc nurse if it was ok to drink a glass of wine during treatment. He told me not to because the liver was filtering the chemo out of the body and you don't want your liver to work harder. Now I do know some people who would drink beer or wine but I didn't for the 6 months of treatment. I honestly didn't feel like drinking because nothing tasted the same for me when I was on chemo. Now 2 years out and I do have my glass of wine on Friday evenings.. Michelle
  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    #6
    Off the Record
    I would have a beer here and there but after my first operation (I did 6 months chemo then surgery) I did not drink for quite a while. My Onc is a strictly NO person but the nurses told me one or two here and there would be OK. I wouldn't drink every night, but that's me. If your liver has been compromised I wouldn't think it would be great for it.
    Smoke mj instead!
    ;-)
    -phil
  • PamPam2
    PamPam2 Member Posts: 370 Member
    #7
    Tried it
    Hi. I tried drinking a couple times when on chemo, didn't work for me. Made me feel terrible, and gave me pretty bad diarreah. Now, even several years later, alcohol doesn't hit me well, maybe that's a good thing.
    Pam
  • daydreamer110761
    daydreamer110761 Member Posts: 487 Member
    #8
    PamPam2 said:

    Tried it
    Hi. I tried drinking a couple times when on chemo, didn't work for me. Made me feel terrible, and gave me pretty bad diarreah. Now, even several years later, alcohol doesn't hit me well, maybe that's a good thing.
    Pam

    can't say if you should or shouldn't
    all I can say is that I did, but not on treatment days. I didn't have really much trouble as far as nausea goes, but I would drink wine up until the Sunday before treatment, start treatment on Tuesday thru Thursday, and Thursday or Friday night have more wine. On a few occasions I actually had a cocktail or two (vodka/cranberry for me).

    My Onc had said that it was ok to have a few, but as others said preferred me to not drink during treatment because of the liver involvment. Somebody else mentioned the taste, and I did notice that as treatment progressed, the wine just didn't taste as good as it used to, but it still helped me sleep.
  • ldot123
    ldot123 Member Posts: 272
    #9
    daydreamer110761 said:

    can't say if you should or shouldn't
    all I can say is that I did, but not on treatment days. I didn't have really much trouble as far as nausea goes, but I would drink wine up until the Sunday before treatment, start treatment on Tuesday thru Thursday, and Thursday or Friday night have more wine. On a few occasions I actually had a cocktail or two (vodka/cranberry for me).

    My Onc had said that it was ok to have a few, but as others said preferred me to not drink during treatment because of the liver involvment. Somebody else mentioned the taste, and I did notice that as treatment progressed, the wine just didn't taste as good as it used to, but it still helped me sleep.

    Not a good Idea
    My oncologist said drinking might mess up my blood work when checking out liver functions plus in general thought it was not a good idea - sorry to say.

    Cheers, Lance
  • mommyof2kds
    mommyof2kds Member Posts: 519
    #10
    ldot123 said:

    Not a good Idea
    My oncologist said drinking might mess up my blood work when checking out liver functions plus in general thought it was not a good idea - sorry to say.

    Cheers, Lance

    My oncologist advised no
    My oncologist advised no alcohol.
  • 2bhealed
    2bhealed Member Posts: 2,064 Member
    #11
    alcohol is just more sugar
    hi flyer,

    Cancer loves to feed on sugary stuff and alcohol is a simple carb turning right into sugar so basically you're feeding your cancer when you drink. Alcohol is also acid producing and cancer loves that too.

    When one has cancer it makes sense to starve the sucker...the cancer not the host. So why push it? Why not wait until the cancer is good and gone just to be on the safe side.

    Instead why not try a veggie juice cocktail (carrots, celery, ginger, kale, apple etc etc) of fresh organic veggies that actually can help you heal from cancer. Try it, you may like it!

    Just a thought.

    peace, emily
  • Dyanclark
    Dyanclark Member Posts: 296
    #12
    2bhealed said:

    alcohol is just more sugar
    hi flyer,

    Cancer loves to feed on sugary stuff and alcohol is a simple carb turning right into sugar so basically you're feeding your cancer when you drink. Alcohol is also acid producing and cancer loves that too.

    When one has cancer it makes sense to starve the sucker...the cancer not the host. So why push it? Why not wait until the cancer is good and gone just to be on the safe side.

    Instead why not try a veggie juice cocktail (carrots, celery, ginger, kale, apple etc etc) of fresh organic veggies that actually can help you heal from cancer. Try it, you may like it!

    Just a thought.

    peace, emily

    Alcohol
    Great comment. I'm Dyan's husband,George(with crc). Thanks for the advice,Emily!
  • thxmiker
    thxmiker Member Posts: 1,278 Member
    #13
    My Oncologist at UCLA said
    My Oncologist at UCLA said no issue with having a drink or two a night. Dr. Lenz at USC said zero alcohol because Chemo is already such a task on the Liver, that the alcohol makes it that much harder to get well.

    Best Always, mike

    PS I did have a glass or two of wine during chemo and it kicked my hiney. I did not drink during the infussion nor the pump days. Day three or four until I started Chemo again I had a glass or two of red wine.
  • maglets
    maglets Member Posts: 2,576 Member
    #14
    thxmiker said:

    My Oncologist at UCLA said
    My Oncologist at UCLA said no issue with having a drink or two a night. Dr. Lenz at USC said zero alcohol because Chemo is already such a task on the Liver, that the alcohol makes it that much harder to get well.

    Best Always, mike

    PS I did have a glass or two of wine during chemo and it kicked my hiney. I did not drink during the infussion nor the pump days. Day three or four until I started Chemo again I had a glass or two of red wine.

    dates
    just saying this is an old thread.....read the dates...

    maggie

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